The most common anti-theft devices for a motor vehicle steering-wheel column have a lock which is fixed to the bodywork and the catch of which penetrates into a slot in the tube casing of the column, and into a slot in a sleeve integral with the steering-wheel shaft. When it is in this position, the catch therefore prevents any relative displacement of the column and of the steering-wheel shaft, in other words prevents the vehicle from being driven.
The presence of the sleeve and the need for it to be fixed to the steering-wheel shaft, however, complicates the production of the steering column. Devices are therefore increasingly being used in which the catch is locked in a slot made in the steering-wheel shaft itself. Unfortunately, in this case it is only possible for a limited number of locking positions to be available since it is impossible to increase the number of slots without reducing the resistance of the anti-theft device, and this resistance must be sufficient to overcome the torque exerted on the device, by way of the steering wheel, when a theft is attempted.
Now it is increasingly desired to be able to ensure the locking of the steering column in multiple angular positions without having to turn the wheel a long way in order to activate the catch.